


Acceptance

by Kangoo



Series: LGBT Destiny Month 2019 [19]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: (I guess?) - Freeform, Aromantic Cayde, Best Friends, Coming Out, Gen, Love & Support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-15 01:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19285195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangoo/pseuds/Kangoo
Summary: cayde thinks he's broken. andal disagrees.





	Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

> i'm no professional on the ace spectrum, and though the whole 'am i broken' thing IS a big mood it doesn't mean i'm right about it.  
>  pls tell me if i wrote something dumb/harmful
> 
> but yeah greyrom cayde. i'm into it

It's been a while since Cayde and Andal had some just for just the two of them. It's hard to go out when one is out of the City more often than not and the other kept busy by Vanguard business.

Tonight, though, Andal cleared the whole evening for his friend. Cayde has been acting oddly, lately, and this is the best way to get him to talk. No spoken questions, no interrogations. Just waiting for him to feel ready to talk. With a few beers to hasten the process. 

It takes a while. Andal doesn't press. They talk about nothing important, Tower gossips and the like. Cayde it toying idly with a bottle cap, flicking it up and snatching it out of the air, again and again.

Andal can pinpoints the exact moment Cayde decides to talk. He downs whats left of his beer in one long gulp and puts it down with a slight sigh.

"I think I'm broken," he says. At Andal's baffled look he adds, "Don't look at me like that. I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

"I could tell," he replies and nothing more.

Cayde doesn't need an input on his part to go on. "I just- you know Yali?" Andal nods. "Yeah, well. We were a thing, back a few months ago - keepin' it kinda on the down low for... Reasons."

"Were?"

"She fell in love. I didn't. Called it quit 'cause it wasn't fair to her, you know? But it got me thinking." He leans forward, hands hanging between his legs. "I've had... A few relationships, in the last few years. Some lasted a while, most didn't, and I-"

He sounds choked up, his vocal processor fizzling slightly. It's rare to see him so obviously upset and Andal can't resist putting a hand on his back, a silent show of support.

Cayde sighs wearily. "I just never fell in love. Not once. I liked them just fine, I had fun with them, but I just didn't... Feel the romance? I don't know." He waves his hand, irritated. "It doesn't make sense. I remember love, I remember- _her_. I fell in love _once_ , why not now? They must have broken something when they turned me into a robot. Someone cut the wrong wire, knocked off a hard drive and _boom_ , can't feel love anymore."

There's a lot to unpack here. Andal decides to start with the obvious.

"You're not broken," he says with finality, rubbing comforting circles on Cayde's back. "You love me. You love Shiro. You can obviously feel love. Just... Not the romantic kind."

"So I'm only partially unable to feel love. How's that not broken?"

He takes his hand off Cayde's back and uses it to slap him over the head with it. "Be nice, there are people out there who are quite satisfied with not feeling any romantic attraction. Or sexual, for that matter."

At that Cayde looks up. His eyes are alight with curiosity, strained on Andal like he holds the secrets of the universe in the palm of his hand. "They do?"

"Didn't you think to look up your... _symptoms_ before you worked yourself into a nervous breakdown?" His hand falls on the back of Cayde's neck and he shakes him slightly in mock annoyance. "I swear your gun is smarter than you sometimes. But yeah. Some people define themselves by their attractions, some by their lack of it, you should look it up. They'd explain it far better than I can. I'll send you a few links."

Cayde's shoulders slump with relief, his entire body going lax under Andal's hand. He puts his arms around Ander's shoulders and drags him into a sideways hug, gently knocking their heads together.

"Thank you," he says, so genuine it makes his voice shake.

"And if you do turn up to be asexual, or aromantic, or something along those lines, you know I'll support you, right? Always." 

Cayde hums in ascent. "Thanks," he says again. "You're the best, Andal."

"I know."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Uncrowded Moments](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19444972) by [BaronetCoins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaronetCoins/pseuds/BaronetCoins)




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